What do you know about that horrible cunt Ann Rand?

Who is John Galt? And why is a book about him being assigned in university courses?

Because businesses are paying schools to teach the wisdom of Ayn Rand.

Ayn Rand�s novels of headstrong entrepreneurs� battles against convention enjoy a devoted following in business circles. While academia has failed to embrace Rand, calling her philosophy simplistic, schools have agreed to teach her works in exchange for a donation.

The charitable arm of BB&T Corp., a banking company, pledged $1 million to the University of North Carolina Charlotte in 2005 and obtained an agreement that Rand�s novel �Atlas Shrugged� would become required reading for students. Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, and Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, say they also took grants and agreed to teach Rand.

by Anonymous

reply 76

03/26/2009

Ayn Rand = Ronald Reagan and the Conservative movement of the 1980s. She is their bible.

by Anonymous

reply 1

03/13/2009

Who's got the inside dirt on that fake scholarship that requires you write an essay on that fucking "Atlas Shrugged?"

by Anonymous

reply 2

03/13/2009

I'm from NC, and trust me - no one who goes to Johnson C. Smith or UNCC is gonna set the world on fire.

Rand is simplistic - I read her in high school. I always think of the SOUTH PARK episode with the Magic Bookmobile, where one of the guys reads ATLAS SHRUGGED and afterwards says "I never want to read another book in my life."

by Anonymous

reply 3

03/13/2009

Next it will be the novels of Terry Goodkind

by Anonymous

reply 4

03/13/2009

BB&T is Spartanburg's hometown bank.

by Anonymous

reply 5

03/13/2009

Interesting how that show is written by Republicans, and preaches everything she stood for, r3.

by Anonymous

reply 6

03/13/2009

"Atlas Shrugged" = Kryptonite to Liberals.

It's at the top of their "books to be banned" list.

by Anonymous

reply 7

03/13/2009

According to a 1991 United States survey by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club, Atlas Shrugged was the book that made most difference in readers' lives after the Bible.

by Anonymous

reply 8

03/13/2009

Liberals don't ban books, but you know that. We call it out for the trash it is.

by Anonymous

reply 9

03/13/2009

Rand should have been aborted by her mother.

by Anonymous

reply 10

03/13/2009

No hon. "Atlas Shrugged" is incoherent, unreadable glop.

And we don't ban books, cupcake. You're getting us mixed up with the fundies in the sad, vicious extremist remnants of the GOP.

Thanks as always for the comic relief, though.

by Anonymous

reply 11

03/13/2009

Liberals love to ban "hate speech".

Hate speech = anything they don't like.

Ask any University.

by Anonymous

reply 12

03/13/2009

Her name rhymes with "mine".

by Anonymous

reply 13

03/13/2009

r3,

They are libertarians. If you have watched every episode, then this would be obvious. No way are they republicans. They don't think much of Al Gore. But that does not necessarily make you republican.

by Anonymous

reply 14

03/13/2009

The best antidote to Ayn Rand is reading Ayn Rand.

by Anonymous

reply 15

03/13/2009

The 'Atlas Shrugged' Index?

BY JONATHAN L. FISCHER, THE BULLETIN THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2009

Recessions mean tough times for the publishing world, but one writer x97 one, ahem, dead writer x97 is getting a boost: Ayn Rand.

The Economist reported late last month that Amazon.com sales of Atlas Shrugged, the authorx92s 1957 epic about embattled capitalism and individualism amid a dystopian world, are the highest theyx92ve been in years.

Moreover, The Economist reported, there may be a correlation between spikes in purchases of the book and the dourest economic news: Sales jumped when the Bank of England bailed out the mortgage lender Northern Rock, and again, last fall, when the U.S. Treasury said its Troubled Asset Relief Program would be stakes in nine banks. The book surged again in January as Congress debated its stimulus plan.

The Economist noted several similarities between current events and sequences in the book: rhetoric condemning corporate greed, constipated international trade, riots across Europe x97 and pirate attacks.

by Anonymous

reply 16

03/13/2009

Address should have been 'r6'.

by Anonymous

reply 17

03/13/2009

[quote]Atlas Shrugged was the book that made most difference in readers' lives after the Bible.

This tells you everything you need to know about the intelligence level of the audience for this "book."

by Anonymous

reply 18

03/13/2009

Born in Russia 1905. Original name transliterated into Alisa Zinovievna Rosenbaum. Died of heart failurre 1982.

by Anonymous

reply 19

03/13/2009

Great. Now the Fox News talking douches have discovered Ayn Rand too and every fuckwit born into wealth fancies himself a John Galt. Those who are born on third base always seem to think they've hit a home run when they make it home, and now they're trying to convince every GOP talking-points-spouting idiot they're being treated unfairly. Given the collective intelligence of the average American they'll probably fall for it. "They're punishing success!" is the new "Iraq was behind 9/11!"

by Anonymous

reply 20

03/13/2009

Ayn is not incomprehensible. Her philosophy is very simple. Capitalists have ethics on par with the archangels. They understand that the only way for them to get rich is to make the world a better place for others. They would never make a Ford Pinto, put melamine in milk or sell a subprime mortgage. Capitalists only do bad things whne they have been corrupted by the government.

Sci-fi novels are more closely related to reality than Ayn's novels.

Oh, and let's not forget that women like being raped (as she described in The Fountainhead)

by Anonymous

reply 21

03/13/2009

In the true free market of ideas, businesses wouldn't have to pay universities to foist a substandard writer on their students.

I'll be sure to ask bastions of intellectual freedom such as Marshall University of Huntington, West Virginia, and Johnson C. Smith University of Charlotte, North Carolina.

by Anonymous

reply 23

03/13/2009

"Atlas Shrugged" is probably the most boring book ever written. Virtually no one whom I know has ever succeeded in slogging through it; the plot is incomparably silly, and the prose is beyond turgid. Surely there must be some conservative novelist who can express these ideas more effectively.

"The Fountainhead" is marginally better.

by Anonymous

reply 24

03/13/2009

Ayn Rand is a dealbreaker for me. If you mistakenly believe that her crappy, sloppy, sub-adult novels have brought meaning and understanding to your life, buh-bye.

by Anonymous

reply 25

03/13/2009

I've since grown and seen the light of Rand's cuntiness, but I have to say that reading The Fountainhead in high school did do something really beneficial for me - it showed me how to cut the strings from my horrible horrible family and get out on my own and not look back, which has been a fucking life-saver.

by Anonymous

reply 26

03/13/2009

"it showed me how to cut the strings from my horrible horrible family and get out on my own and not look back"

Wow - the very same thing joining the carnival did for me!

by Anonymous

reply 27

03/13/2009

I read Rand as an undergrad, and never got much out of it. Meh.

A few years later I read von Mises, and it changed my life. It totally changed the way I look at government, and made me realize that the only way a society can prosper is through the actions of entrepreneurs and "capitalists". Government only perverts and corrupts.

Too bad that the "capitalists" that populate the world today are actually fascists is capitalist clothing. We've never seen a true "free market" in the US, just a bastardized version of it promoted by the fascists that run our banks.

by Anonymous

reply 28

03/13/2009

[quote]We've never seen a true "free market" in the US, just a bastardized version of it promoted by the fascists that run our banks.

I.e., I need an explanation for why the free market isn't working, and I'm too much of an idealogue to accept that it's because sometimes, it doesn't work

by Anonymous

reply 29

03/13/2009

It's not a "free market", R29, when the lifeblood of it, money, is controlled, created, and inflated by a central authority, aka the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve artificially lowered interest rates, "created" new money, and implemented counterproductive regulations that allowed unfettered greed to rule.

Read some Mises and then get back to me.

by Anonymous

reply 30

03/13/2009

The "free market" in this context does not work because of GREED.

by Anonymous

reply 31

03/13/2009

There is no such thing as a "free" market. There has never been any such thing and there never will be any such thing.

The people who advocate for it are just a bunch of greedy, delusional assholes who believe - fervently - that all countries should be banana republics.

by Anonymous

reply 32

03/13/2009

Governments would never support a true free market because they are so destabilizing. The constant boom and bust does not support a white picket fence ideal.

We had freer markets at one point we also had tenement slums and workers being shot in the streets.

Once the entrepreneurs got theirs they wanted to roll-up the free market carpet to protect their assests.

That is the thing about the government. It is not a separate entity, it is made up us US citizens with the full faith and credit of US business.

by Anonymous

reply 33

03/13/2009

OK, I am no fan of libertarians or freepers, but does anyone thing that addressing them as "hon," "sweets," and "cupcake" is really cutting edge critique?

What are you, a nasty salesperson in the notions department at WT Grant in the 1960s? Stop watching old camp.

by Anonymous

reply 34

03/13/2009

"Governments would never support a true free market because they are so destabilizing. The constant boom and bust does not support a white picket fence ideal."

You misunderstand the nature of the boom/bust cycle. The "boom" phase would never occur without the interference of the government, and therefore preclude any "bust". A free market is self-regulating, whereas a government is parasitic.

by Anonymous

reply 35

03/13/2009

I know, what's with her rape fantasy crap. All the women in her books are strong but like to be manhandled. I read Atlas, it was so repetitive and boring after awhile. I didn't even finish it. She hits you over the head so much with her ideology.

One thing I noticed was that she crapped on religion and mysticism in the book, but one character can only go forward when she makes a leap of faith. I think she was flying in to meet Galt in Colorado but it was a hidden landing, so you had to have faith that you would make it and wouldn't die. I thought that was a big contradiction on the book. I also didn't like all the leech comments. What's wrong with helping others if they need it?

I tried to read Fountainhead but threw it down after the rape scene. I just got online to read what happened in the end.

by Anonymous

reply 36

03/13/2009

"Her name rhymes with 'mine'."

Which part?

Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum

by Anonymous

reply 37

03/13/2009

The whole "penalizing the rich for being successful" bent that Fox News is taking from Rand is completely nonsensical cause

a) bankers and Wall Street FAILED. They did not succeed in anything but losing money for millions of people and

b) the RICH accepted HUGE government handouts as a result. WE, the "leeches" in Ayn's world, are the ones helping the rich stay rich even though they robbed us blind.

I've been able to be friends with born-again Christians and a schizophrenic woman who one day decided she hated Asian people (but "exempted" me), but I honestly would have nothing to say to someone who liked Rand's philosophy or writing style (crap).

by Anonymous

reply 41

03/23/2009

Any third world country is full to the brim with free markets which have never and will never make anybody rich.

by Anonymous

reply 42

03/23/2009

Queen Carlotta of Mortville was the perfect embodiment of Ayn Rand's sociopolitical worldview.

by Anonymous

reply 43

03/23/2009

"Seize her and fuck her"

For r43.

And a little wood for r20.

by Anonymous

reply 44

03/23/2009

Universities are one thing, but it should be criminal to teach this shit in public high schools

by Anonymous

reply 45

03/23/2009

Ghastly novelist and worse philosopher.

Her charm with students usually doesn't last past freshman year in community college.

I read Atlas Shrugged in high school; it was hardly a life changing event. It was all in all pretty damn boring. People who put too much faith in the "principles" of Rand need a reality check. Her ideals simply don't really translate well in the real world and to try to turn this country into Rand-Land will be a dismal failure.

That said there is much to be said for a capitalist economic system. We climbed to the top of the world's economic ladder based on "compassionate capitalism" and there is no reason to believe that we will not rise again by adhering to the same principles.

by Anonymous

reply 49

03/23/2009

[italic]Ayn is not incomprehensible. Her philosophy is very simple. Capitalists have ethics on par with the archangels. They understand that the only way for them to get rich is to make the world a better place for others.[/italic]

Wait, weren't her novels and philosophy anti-altruism?

by Anonymous

reply 50

03/23/2009

.

by Anonymous

reply 51

03/24/2009

Do her followers know that she was an atheist?

by Anonymous

reply 52

03/24/2009

Not true R49. "We climbed to the top" of the world ladder during World War II sporting a socialist command economy with rationing, full employment, wage inflation, and price controls.

by Anonymous

reply 53

03/24/2009

I don't get the hate.

I enjoyed her novels as just that. Novels.

I don't bother reading any more into it than that.

by Anonymous

reply 54

03/24/2009

[quote]According to a 1991 United States survey by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club, Atlas Shrugged was the book that made most difference in readers' lives after the Bible.

Congratulations, you pathetic twat! For the first time in years, you've actually made a true statement on DL. Sad, annoying, but verifiably true.

by Anonymous

reply 55

03/24/2009

"Ayn is not incomprehensible. Her philosophy is very simple. Capitalists have ethics on par with the archangels. They understand that the only way for them to get rich is to make the world a better place for others."

No, the only way for them to get rich is to be self-serving. They don't care about the welfare of others.

You have to remember, Rand was Russian and comes from a "share and share alike" philosophy and her ideology comes as a direct result of that environment.

Angelina Jolie is a big Ayn Rand fan, and was set to star in the film adaptation of Atlas Shrugged.

by Anonymous

reply 57

03/24/2009

I don't think I've seen such kneee jerk comments since the last time Madonna was mentioned on the board.

Ayn Rand has greatly influenced a huge number of not stupid people. She is not a good writer or needed a much more brutal editor. Her phililosophy is distinctive if not practical.

by Anonymous

reply 58

03/24/2009

But they are stupid people R58. Anyone who believes in Ayn Rand is by definition, somebody who is subnormal in the thinking department. And instead we put one of these idiots in charge of our economy for twenty years.

by Anonymous

reply 59

03/24/2009

You don't get it, don't excuse her because she's Russian. She lied about how great conditions were unders the Czars. The truth is the Soviet economy, bad as it was, still was much larger than the pre-Soviet economy.

by Anonymous

reply 60

03/24/2009

"AS" really is a badly written, boring novel, but that is not why Dataloungers hate her so much. Dataloungers hate Ayn Rand because they hate the idea of the supremacy of individual liberty.

by Anonymous

reply 61

03/26/2009

Why hasn't anyone acknowledged Rand's raging homophobia as a reason to loath her, in addition to her awful writing and intellectually dishonest philosophy?

In a 1971 interview she had this to say about the homosex(and this is the glossed-over version from on of the objectivist apologist websites; I imagine she had some other less than flattering things to say about us that they won't print):

[quote]"...it involves psychological flaws, corruptions, errors, or unfortunate premises, but there is a psychological immorality at the root of homosexuality. Therefore I regard it as immoral."

Although she went on to suggest that there shouldn't be laws inhibiting adults from doing whatever they wish, she was not one of our fans. We certainly shouldn't waste our time being fans of hers.

by Anonymous

reply 62

03/26/2009

I finally read AS after being urged for years to do so by a beloved friend who insists this book changed his life. It changed mine, too. It made me look at him completely differently. And, not in a good way. I thought her characters were failures as human beings. They had and worshipped money above all else. Dagny is a whore who moved from one successful man to a more successful man and neither Franscisco or Reardon had a problem with that because they knew her new man was superior to them. Yeah, right. When I finished, I thought those were hours I will never get back. I only wish I had counted the number of times she used the words "astonish, astonishment and astonishing." The number must total in the 100s.

by Anonymous

reply 63

03/26/2009

For a hilarious view on Ayn Rand, her fans and even her corporate sponsors and to a certain extent, academia, you should read "Old School" by Tobias Wolff, a memoir about his time at a prep school where authors were invited once a year to visit and vote on their favorite student fiction. Yes, Ayn Rand is one of the authors, brought there by a self made alumnus whom Rand of course, insults several times during the course of her visit. Her presence also attracts several "fans" which are an unwelcome suprise on campus. And the winning story is a science fiction piece about cows which Rand picks because, allegedly, it expounds upon her themes, though the boy who writes turns out merely to be a cow and sci fi fan.

by Anonymous

reply 64

03/26/2009

Why is this on the front page yet again today? This is 6 days in a row. What cunt keeps bumping up this useless thread? Let it die already! Jesus Christ.

by Anonymous

reply 65

03/26/2009

R65, calm down-- I understand that it may be inconvenient, but you can do a search for the most recent Perez Hilton buzz, or for the latest news on Jared Padalecki.

There's room for everyone on this board, toots.

by Anonymous

reply 66

03/26/2009

"Oh, and let's not forget that women like being raped (as she described in The Fountainhead)"

The Rape Fantasy is very common for women and I'm sure some men too.

by Anonymous

reply 67

03/26/2009

Reply 64, "though the boy who writes turns out merely to be a cow and sci fi fan."

The boy was a cow? No wonder he (it) mimicked Ayn Rand like a sheep.

by Anonymous

reply 68

03/26/2009

[italic]economics is to Dataloungers as garlic is to vampires.[/italic]

I've never seen such economic stupidity as I have here on DL.

R60 is just the latest example:

[italic]The truth is the Soviet economy, bad as it was, still was much larger than the pre-Soviet economy.[/italic]

by Anonymous

reply 69

03/26/2009

When I was in college, someone would go around every morning (early) and write on nearly every chalkboard "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. Those boards were erased every night by the custodial staff (and many instructors erased that phrase before class started anyway.)So this happened EVERY MORNING.

So someone - probably a group - was very dedicated because that was a large research university with many black boards.

That went on for at least two years.

Imagine being that devoted to a book.

by Anonymous

reply 70

03/26/2009

"No, the only way for them to get rich is to be self-serving. They don't care about the welfare of others."

Her whole shtick is that it is self-serving to provide goods and services that people want to buy and thereby make the provider of those goods and services rich.

For instance, if you run a train line that is clean, fast and on-time, you will attract more customers than a line that is dirty, slow and chronically late.

Or if you made a light bulb that lasted 5 years, you will get more buyers than a light bulb that only lasts a year. Or if you made a car that got 100 miles a gallon you will get more customers than cars that get 30 miles to a gallon.

It all sounds logical and beautiful. Unfortunately for Ayn, it wasn't happening, so she had to look for the reason all the people who wanted to get rich had not yet created Utopia. The reason that she found was government. The only explanation for why Capitalism hadn't created this beautiful world was government interference.

She never seemed to considered that people are corruptible all on their own without government help.

by Anonymous

reply 71

03/26/2009

"The Rape Fantasy is very common for women and I'm sure some men too."

But just as with all Ayn's fanatsies inluding her economic ideas, the fantasy is much different from the reality.

by Anonymous

reply 72

03/26/2009

Never read her books, but saw a movie about her starring Helen Mirren. Unlike, say, the guy who invented Scientology, it looks like Rand truly believed the stuff she spouted. I think she's a fascinating nutcase/cult leader. Are there any good biographies of her, not written by her worshipers?

by Anonymous

reply 73

03/26/2009

R73, that movie is "The Passion of Ayn Rand" starring Mirren, Eric Stoltz among other known actors. I tried watching it and fell asleep.

by Anonymous

reply 74

03/26/2009

Is it safe to say that Ronald Reagan was the embodiment of her philosophies?

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